Things are happening this summer in Los Alamos. The Friday night concerts seem to have a good turnout. The first show was May 18 at the Kite Fest and there were about 600 folks out there.
The Red Elvises concert on May 25 drew around 2,500 people and last week’s Laurie Lewis bluegrass/folk concert drew about 1,500 folks.
Last Friday was the start of what is referred to on Facebook as “Los Alamos Friday Night.” Some businesses are staying open late and trying things to bring more activity to town.
Pet Pangaea is staying open and sponsoring a “dog walk.” The Bradbury Science Museum is open until 9 p.m. The Coffee Booth and Blue Window Bistro are sponsoring concerts. Soon Los Alamos residents will have two new bars/restaurants to frequent. Dixie Girl is having an open house (of sorts) Friday and Saturday.
The Los Alamos Historical Museum and the Art Center at Fuller Lodge are also open on Friday nights.
This Friday night is the start of the 2012 ChamberFest. The Los Alamos County Summer Concert Series will present Bebop sax player Greg Abate with the Pete Amahl Trio. Abate is from Rhode Island and graduated from Berklee School of Music in Boston.
He toured the world and the U.S. with the Ray Charles Orchestra for two years. After playing with Charles, Abate formed his own bands and played New England for a couple of years and then joined the Arte Shaw Orchestra for two years. After that, Abate went back to having his own band.
He’s played all over the world, including New York’s Birdland; Los Angeles’ Shelly’s Mann Hole; Los Alamos’ Ashley Pond; and the best jazz clubs in the U.S., U.K., Germany, Moscow and just about everywhere else.
Abate plays more than 150 shows a year, as well as being the adjunct professor of jazz studies at Rhode Island College.
Santa Fe keyboardist John Rangel will play with Abate. Rangel has played with Nat Adderly, Bobby Shew, Ravi Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Billy Higgins and many others.
The bassist is Chuck Metcalf. He’s played with Mose Allison, Larry Coryell, Art Pepper, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and lots more. Pete Amahl is a Santa Fe percussionist. He’s played with Mose, Natalie Cole, Herb Ellis, Junior Brown, Roy Hargrove, Barney Kessel, the Drifters, the Coasters, Martha and the Vandellas and many more jazz and pop music stars.
Beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, there will be tents and booths with Los Alamos businesses displaying their products and services.
There also will be giveaways, a sand pile, jump-up toys and lots of other things for the whole family. In addition, there will be two car shows. Eddy and the Nomads will play during the festivities. The Nomads play 50s and 60s rock such as the music of Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Ray Perkins and others.
On June 15, the concert series will move back to Ashley Pond with the Police Experience. These guys play covers of the British ska-rock band. They’ve even played with members of the Police. The show will be a fundraiser for “Relay for Life Night.”
All our shows are free of charge. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets.